§ MR. SAMUEL YOUNGTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether any recommendation has been made to the Local Government Board to abolish Tullyvin dispensary district, in the county of Cavan, and to partition it between Cootehill and Drum; and, if so, whether the Local Government Board will consider the inadvisability of such a course in the interest of the suffering poor, who would experience inconvenience in cases of emergency, the majority of whom live at a distance of 12 miles from Cootehill and 15 miles from Drum; and whether a petition has been received by the Local Government Board from the clergy and the guardians in opposition to such a project, setting forth the impossibility of having the district attended to in consequence of want of road accommodation, its area, and population.
(Answered by Mr. Bryce.) The Answer to the first Inquiry is in the negative. The fact is that a proposal was made by the guardians to superannuate the medical officer of the Tullyvin dispensary district, and the Local Government Board, in pursuance of their usual policy in such cases, requested the guardians to consider whether the medical officership could be abolished without inconvenience to the sick poor, and outlined a scheme 1525 for the rearrangement of the dispensary districts of the union. The inspector of the Local Government Board was of opinion that Tullyvin dispensary might be abolished with advantage. The existing medical officer, however, has not resigned, and the guardians have therefore postponed consideration of the Board's communication. A petition to the effect mentioned in the concluding part of the Question appears on the guardians' minutes of proceedings on the 9th instant.